Government of Russia

Russian Federation• Federal Government: the power is

shared between the central government and the governments of the states

• Democracy: citizens of the country hold the power by voting

• Presidential Democracy: leader is directly elected by the people

Russian Federal Assembly

• Russia’s legislature is called the Federal Assembly and is divided into two parts: 1. the Federation Council 2. the State Duma

Federal Assembly: Federation Council

• Has two representatives from each state

• States appoint the council’s members; they are not directly elected by the people

• Most important duty: approve the president’s choices of people to fill different government jobs

Federation Council

Federal Assembly: State Duma

• Larger than the Federation Council– Has 450 members who are elected

directly by the people

• This house controls the budget and makes the laws

• Approves the president’s choice for prime minister

State Duma

State Duma

Political PartiesBlue – United Russia Red – CPRFOrange – A Just Russia Yellow – Liberal Democratic Party

State Duma

Faction leader Number of Deputies Popular vote

United Russia Vladimir Putin 238 49.5%

Communist Party of the Russian Federation

Gennady Zyuganov 92 19.2%

A Just Russia Sergey Mironov 64 13.2%

Liberal Democratic Party of Russia

Vladimir Zhirinovsky 56 11.7%

Russia’s Leadership

• President is the chief executive with the MOST power– Elected by the people (presidential

democracy)– Can disband (eliminate) the legislature

• President also selects a Prime Minister who helps in the day-to-day running of the government

President Obama with Russian President Dimitri Medvedev

President Obama with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin

Russia’s Citizen Participation

• Russia’s constitution guarantees human and civil rights for its citizens– All people are equal– Russians have the right to life and

dignity, freedom of speech, and the right to privacy

• Citizens directly elect the leader